Electronic processor unit having components mounted on a pivotal frame with lock mechanism

ABSTRACT

An electronic processor unit comprises a base (13) for supporting mechanical and electronic components (61,24) and an auxiliary frame (14) fixed to the base in order to support other mechanical and electronic components (16,17). An interlocking mechanism (32) for the base and the auxiliary frame permits the frame to be pivoted between a rest position and a tilted position providing access to the said components, and a fixing mechanism (33) can be selectively actuated to lock the auxiliary frame to the base in the rest position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an electronic processor unit, comprising abase adapted to support first mechanical and electronic components, andan auxiliary frame adapted to support second mechanical and electroniccomponents and to be fixed to the base in order to enclose the saidsecond components.

Known electronic processor units, such as in personal computers, haveframes, for supporting and housing the internal components, fixed to thebase by means of rows of screws. This type of structure has thedisadvantage that it makes it difficult to access the internalcomponents of the processor unit, e.g. in order to replace a faultypart. Furthermore, tools are required to unscrew and tighten the variousscrews holding the components fixed to the base.

One such electronic unit is disclosed in European Patent ApplicationEP-A-0 428 273, which concerns a computer having a frame carrying apower supply and which is pivotable for being selectively fixed byinterlocking means to a base of the computer. The interlocking meanscomprise a threaded, spring-loaded fastener, which has to be screwed onthe base for fixing the frame. The interlocking means have to beoperated as a screw, so that the locking and the unlocking of the frameto and from the base are rather laborious.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is to provide an electronic processor unitin which it is simple to access both the mechanical and electronicinternal components without the aid of tools, or without having toeffect uncomfortable operations, such as unscrewing, and in which theauxiliary frame can be moved in a restricted manner in order to ensureaccess to these components.

This object is achieved by the present invention as defined in thecharacteristic portion of independent claim 1. Advantageous features ofthe invention are set forth in the appendant claims.

A preferred electronic processor unit embodying the invention isdescribed below in more detail with reference to the drawings, and has abase supporting mechanical and/or electronic components, and anauxiliary frame fixed to the base and supporting other mechanical and/orelectronic components. The auxiliary frame can be pivoted between a restposition and a tilted position providing access to the said mechanicaland/or electronic components. Access to these components is thus simpleand can be achieved without the need to use tools.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the invention will be made clear from the description of apreferred embodiment given by way of a non-limiting example and withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic processor unit embodyingthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the internal structure of the processorunit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the auxiliary frame of the processorunit of FIG. 1 in one of its operative positions;

FIG. 4 is a view of a detail from FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view of another detail from FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 shows a front perspective view and a rear perspective view of apart of the processor unit

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10 designates an electronicprocessor unit, e.g. of the personal computer type, hereinafter referredto by the abbreviation PC, comprising a cover 11 and a main frame 12,shown in detail in FIG. 2. The main frame 12 consists of a base 13 forsupporting first mechanical and/or electronic components and anauxiliary frame 14 for supporting second mechanical and/or electroniccomponents in a modular manner.

For the sake of brevity and simplicity of description, the cover 11,e.g. of conventional type or of a type closed by means of wing nuts asdescribed in International Patent Application No. PCT/EP95/00095,publication No. W095/19594 published 20 Jul. 1995, in the name Ing. C.Olivetti & C., S.p.A., and also, the first and second mechanical and/orelectronic components will not be described in detail as they are knownper se. Only a magnetic (and/or optical) peripheral storage unit 16 anda power supply unit 17 will be mentioned. The power supply unit suppliesvarious voltages to the first components on the base 13 and the secondcomponents on the auxiliary frame 14.

The base 13 comprises a rear wall 18, a front wall 19 and agenerally-rectangular base wall 21 to which the first electronic andmechanical components of the PC are fixed.

The front wall 19 of the PC is provided in its right-hand part (FIG. 1-3and 6) with an opening 22 for receiving the auxiliary frame 14 in therest position, and in its left-hand part with a grille 23 forventilation of the internal units, such as by a fan 24, and for aloudspeaker 26. A strip 27 is located centrally on the front wall 19 asa housing for an expansion peripheral for the PC, e.g. a magneticcassette unit. The entire lower part of the front wall 19 consists of arectilinear body 28 in which are provided a grille 29 for theventilation of the peripheral unit 16 and a seat 31 adapted to house andsupport a first interlocking mechanism 32 for the base 13 and theauxiliary frame 14. A second interlocking mechanism 33 for the base andthe auxiliary frame is moreover provided on the upper part of the frontwall 19.

Parts of the second or fixing mechanism 33 are situated centrally on theupper edge of the front wall 19 and are thus integral with the base, andcomprise a bolt lever 34 (FIGS. 4 and 5) and a shoulder 36 in which asmall hole 37 is formed. The lever 34 is free to rotate about a pivot 38in order to engage, in the rest position, in the small hole 37.

The auxiliary frame 14, substantially in the shape of a parallelepiped,is delimited by a base 39, a right-hand side wall 41 (see FIG. 2) and aleft-hand wall 42. The magnetic peripheral unit 16, the front part ofwhich occupies the opening 22 in the front wall of the PC, and the powersupply unit 17, the rear part of which simply constitutes the rear partof the frame 14, are mounted on the base 39.

The first interlocking mechanism comprises a pivot 43 integral with thebase 39 and located in the seat 31 in its right-hand front part. Anotherfirst interlocking mechanism is located at the right-hand rear part ofthe base. These first interlocking mechanisms permit the pivotedrotation of the frame 14 about an axis along the side edge of thegenerally-rectangular base 13 from a rest position (FIG. 2), in which itis integrally locked with the base 13, to an access position (FIG. 3),in which it is tilted laterally upwards to allow for easy access to thefirst and second mechanical and electronic components. The frame thusrotates about an axis parallel to the base surface 21 and perpendicularto the front and rear walls 19,18. The frame may rotate by an angle ofat least 45° up to about 90°; the extent of the rotation may berestricted as desired.

The right-hand side wall 41 of the frame 14, shown in the foreground ofFIG. 2, consists of metallic material and houses elements for lockingand guiding the magnetic peripheral unit 16 and the power supply unit17. In particular, tongues 44 for supporting the magnetic peripheralunit and tongues 46 for supporting the supply unit 17 are provided inthe wall 41. These tongues form a supporting base for the guides 47 formechanically supporting the peripherals and for a frame 48 for housingand supporting the power supply unit 17.

The left-hand side wall 42 of the auxiliary frame 14 has a grille 49 tomake the metal structure lighter and for further ventilation of theinterior. The upper end part of the side wall 42 is bent at an angle of90° so as to form a horizontal metal crossbar 51 to support the PCdisplay screen (monitor). This crossbar 51, laterally delimited by along edge 50, moreover carries contact elements 52 ensuring goodelectrical connection between the metal structure of the main frame 12and an inner metal coating of the cover 11. This structure optimises theshielding action of the cover against the emission of radio-frequencyradiation by the PC.

The other part of the second interlocking mechanism 33, formed by atongue 53 on which a second small hole 54 is formed, is arranged in thefront part of the crossbar 51. The bolt 34 is introduced into thissecond small hole 54 to lock the auxiliary frame 14 to the base 13. Thefront edge of the wall 42 is completed by a tab 56 and an auxiliary lock57 used as a further aid when assembling and dismantling the PC foreasier access to the first and second mechanical and/or electroniccomponents.

The long edge 50 of the crossbar 51, parallel to the wall 42, is bentinto an L shape in order to brace the mechanical structure forsupporting the PC display screen. Locking and supporting notches 58 fora metal support 59 are formed on this edge. This metal support 59supports a bus expansion board 61 which can carry expansion boards 66supporting integrated circuits and other electronic components. When theauxiliary frame 14 is closed, the notches 58 are located in eyelets 62of tabs 63 provided on the upper edge of the support 59.

The base 39 of the auxiliary frame 14 includes a longitudinal member 64used as a reinforcing rib for the base and as a support for locking themagnetic expansion peripheral (e.g. hard disk store unit) fixed abovethe base 13 and below the auxiliary frame 14. The longitudinal member 64is not supported over its entire length on the base 13, but has a portfor the passage of cables 67 connecting the magnetic peripherals and themother-board of the PC.

The front wall 19 is moreover provided in its left-hand inner part witha card guide 68 covered towards the exterior by the grille 23.

The card guide 68, shown in two views in FIG. 6, consists of a body 69substantially in the shape of a parallelepiped, e.g. of plasticmaterial, comprising a first face 71 directed towards the interior ofthe PC on which are provided pairs of projections 72 facing one anotherand separated by an appropriate spaces 73, and a second face 74 oppositethe first face and directed towards the front wall 19. The projections72 are formed by continuous and/or discontinuous rings separated by thespace 73 of appropriate dimensions in order to support the expansionboards of the PC and to guide them as they are inserted. The projections72 are aligned in both the directions parallel with and perpendicular tothe base wall 21.

The second face 74, directed towards the front wall 19, comprises afirst seat 76 for housing an audible signalling device for the PC, e.g.a buzzer or loudspeaker 26, and a second seat 77 for housing the fan 24for ventilating the interior of the computer.

It will be clear that the electronic processor unit illustrated can besubject to modifications and/or additions and/or the substitution ofcomponents without thereby going beyond the scope of the invention; forexample, the construction of the seat 31 may be such that the auxiliaryframe 14 can be separated from the base 13 when the frame is in the openor access position.

We claim:
 1. An electronic processor unit comprising a base (13) havinga front wall (19), said base (13) adapted to support first mechanicaland/or electronic components (24,61); an auxiliary frame (14) adapted tosupport second mechanical and/or electronic components (16,17);interlocking means (32) for the base and the auxiliary frame so that theauxiliary frame can be moved between a rest position and an accessposition, the auxiliary frame permitting access to the first and secondmechanical and/or electronic components (16,17,24,61) in the said accessposition; and a fixing mechanism which can be selectively actuated inorder to lock the auxiliary frame to the base in the rest position, thefixing mechanism comprising first locking means (34,37) in the base (13)and second locking means (54) in the auxiliary frame (14), one of thelocking means being selectively actuatable in order to cooperate withthe other locking means in the rest position of the auxiliary frame;characterised in that the first locking means are disposed on the frontwall (19) of the base and comprise a hook (34) free to rotate about afulcrum (38), and a shoulder (36) having a small hole (37); the secondlocking means comprise a tongue (53) with an associated eyelet (54); andthe shoulder (36) and the tongue (53) are adapted to cooperate with thehook, and the small hole (37) and the eyelet (54) are adapted to housethe hook (34) in order to lock the auxiliary frame (14) in the restposition.
 2. An electronic processor unit according to claim 1,characterised in that the front wall (19) is adapted to house part ofthe first mechanical and/or electronic components (24).
 3. An electronicprocessor unit according to any of the preceding claims, characterisedin that the interlocking means (32) comprise a pivot (43) integral withthe auxiliary frame (14) and a seat (31) provided on the base (13) andadapted to removably house the pivot in order to rotate the auxiliaryframe about an axis of rotation and/or to separate it from the base inthe access position.
 4. An electronic processor unit according to claim3, in which the base (13) is substantially in the shape of aparallelepiped and is delimited by a base surface (21) and by lateralsurfaces (18,19) adjacent to the base surface, characterised in that theaxis of rotation is parallel to a dihedron defined by the base surfaceand by one of the lateral surfaces.
 5. An electronic processor unitaccording to claim 1, comprising a casing (11) having protective meansacting as an electromagnetic shield for the said first and secondcomponents, characterised by contact elements (52) provided in theauxiliary frame (14) and adapted to electrically connect the auxiliaryframe to the protective means in order to optimise the shielding actionof the casing.
 6. An electronic processor unit according to claim 1,characterised in that the auxiliary frame (14) is adapted to support aplurality of peripheral units (16,17) of the processor unit in a modularmanner.
 7. An electronic processor unit according to claim 6,characterised in that the peripheral units comprise magnetic and/oroptical stores (16).
 8. An electronic processor unit according to claim1, characterised in that the auxiliary frame (14) supports a powersupply for supplying power to the said first and second electroniccomponents (24,61,16,17).
 9. An electronic processor unit according toclaim 1, in which the base (13) supports a main electronic board (61)and auxiliary electronic boards (66) on which the first mechanicaland/or electronic components are mounted, and in which the auxiliaryelectronic boards are removably fixed to the main electronic board,characterised in that the auxiliary frame (14) allows for access to andpossibly replacement of the main and auxiliary electronic boards in itsaccess position.